According to Labour Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua, a total of 23 Kenyans have been barred from traveling to Qatar for international jobs that the government has secured for them.
The news came just moments after they had passed their interviews.
Mutua claimed that the candidates were rejected when it was discovered that they had initially visited the Middle Eastern country and violated certain local rules.
On Wednesday, the CS spoke at the Jamhuri National Jobs Fair, which was held at Nairobi’s Kenyatta International Conference Centre.
“Some of the people that we hired, 23 of them, have been banned because they went to Qatar before and broke the law. Whatever you do follows you, some of them are drivers,” Mutua revealed.
According to the CS, the government had little to do with their case until it was determined that no efforts would save them.
At the same time, he launched a harsh attack on government opponents over the labor mobility arrangements reached between Kenya and Qatar.
Mutua denied suggestions that the government had taken on the job of recruitment agencies by serving as a go-between with Qatar.
“Some people are referring to this initiative as hearsay stories, they can mind their own business,” Mutua asserted.
“These jobs are not ours as they belong to specific companies who come to us with specific requests, insisting on hiring Kenyans,” he added.
He also allayed concerns that the government was illegally collecting payments from recruits, pointing out that it was the recruitment agencies that were legally seeking contributions.
“The government cannot recruit people as that is done through agencies according to the law. It is them who know where to run for medical check-ups. These agencies must also charge some service fee on what they do,” the CS added.
The CS also urged anyone spreading rumors about the jobs program to avoid the entire exercise, stating that the government was not in the business of pushing anybody to travel for opportunities.
The remarks come amid allegations on social media that some candidates were compelled to choose jobs for which they had not interviewed.
According to the CS, recruiting companies preferred to adjust some of the recruits’ work roles following internal assessments.
As a result, he stated that the government would send some authorities to accompany the more than 200 recruits to ensure their well-being once they get to Qatar.
Nobody is forcing you to go, you make the choice. My job is to ensure that you don’t get conned in the process,” Mutua detailed.
Mutua also revealed that 200 Kenyan police officers are departing the nation for Qatar as the government finalizes their clearance.
He explained that the cops will be leaving due to a request from the Qatari government.
“The ambassador here can confirm that we just recruited 200 police officers for Qatar and they are just currently going through the checks before they can go,” he added.
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